A Chapter in the Lives of the Marauders
by Jazmin Falconn
Summary: It's sixth year for the four mischiefmakers Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs. It's early in the year, the weather's mild ... and Remus is in love.
1. Stage 1: Puppy Love

Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I don't own my dear Padfoot and Prongs. -tear- Moony, too, I do not own, which also upsets me. However, Wormtail, I'm happy to note, is _not_ mine, nor will he ever be. Huzzah. I don't want him. Oh, but dear little Helen is mine, so hands off.

**Stage 1: Puppy Love**

"No. No. Wormtail, no. Look, watch." James Potter waved his wand in the general direction of his best friend Sirius Black, who promptly started babbling nonsense. James smirked at his friend, who glared back through his babbling but was unable to remove it from himself. Peter Pettigrew, who couldn't seem to master wordless charms no matter what he did, blinked at Sirius, his mouth slightly open, trying to figure out how James had done it. Remus Lupin, the last in their group of friends, was sitting next to the babbling Sirius and working on some homework. He looked up at Sirius, then at James, calmly lifted his wand, and wordlessly removed the curse.

"Stop it, James, I'm trying to concentrate," he said mildly, setting his wand back down and resuming his work.

Sirius, however, leaped up from sitting on the ground and glared at James. "What did you do that for?" he growled.

James shrugged. "I need a subject to demonstrate the proper use of wordless curses, don't I?" He couldn't _quite_ wipe the smirk from his face, though.

A wicked half-smile crept onto the other boy's face, and he lifted his wand. "Oh, demonstrating, are we? Well, why don't I give instructing dear Wormtail a shot?" He waved his wand at James and nothing happened. Sirius scowled.

"Nice demonstration," James snickered.

"You did that on purpose!"

"Of course I did. I'm not going to let you curse me just for the sake of demonstration."

"Then why did you curse me?"

"Because you weren't paying attention."

"Oh, be quiet, the both of you," Remus interrupted, still bent over his work. "Sirius, you weren't paying attention. Get over it. There are no lasting effects."

Sirius rolled his eyes at Remus but didn't argue. It was true that James could've done something far worse than just the Babbling Curse that would have been much less pleasant, but that didn't make it any better that Sirius wasn't able to get his revenge. His eyes scanned around, seeking a less formidable target for his ire than James.

His scowl gave way to an evil grin, and he elbowed James in the ribs, nodding off at an angle. The two sixteen-year-old boys looked over at a solitary figure, bent over papers under a tree. Severus Snape. An identical grin spread on James' face, and the two exchanged a look.

"I think we've found a demonstration subject," James said.

"Shouldn't I practice a little more before we drag over an unwilling target?" Peter asked with the usual whining-cast to his voice.

"Nonsense!" Sirius flexed his fist around his wand. "There will be no trouble keeping him here. Besides, who knows what a badly performed wordless spell would do to him."

"But wouldn't we get in trouble for cursing him? I mean," Peter continued hastily, trying to redeem himself from the slip-up, "wouldn't it be better if I _learned_ how to use wordless spells first? Then we could all curse him simultaneously, and that would be better than badly performed spells, wouldn't it?"

James and Sirius shared a look. James lifted an eyebrow questioningly, and Sirius stared flatly back. James pondered, then shrugged. His eyes suddenly focused off at an angle, though, and he winced. "But Lily's over there."

Sirius glanced over his shoulder. "So? We're _practicing_. It's homework. How's Evans going to fault you for doing your homework?"

"She might fault me for doing my homework on Snivellus," James replied evenly.

Sirius blew his breath out of his nose irritably and looked about to argue some more when he blinked, leaned around James and stared.

James turned around to see what he was looking at and found the most peculiar sight.

Remus, who moments before had been diligent upon his work, was leaning on one hand, staring dreamily off with a slight, goofy grin on his face and a light pink cast to his cheeks. Peter was focusing on trying to do ... something to a nearby rock (the "something" is unknown, as he was attempting to use wordless incantations, and it wasn't working) so hadn't noticed the peculiar behavior of his friend. James and Sirius stared, gaping at Remus for a moment, trying to take in the fact that _Remus_ was daydreaming. Remus didn't daydream. He would zone out, but that was while working on homework, and he always had a serious expression on his face. That goofy grin was so out of character for him that it was startling.

The two boys approached Remus and stood on either side of him, looking down at the oblivious werewolf. As they watched, his behavior rapidly became even more unusual. His blush suddenly flamed brightly, and he bent quickly over his work, scribbling something on a piece of parchment with a quill that had run out of ink. James and Sirius exchanged glances. Slowly, his writing stopped, he seemed to pretend to read for a moment, and then he looked back up, leaned on his hand, and stared off dreamily in the same direction.

James and Sirius exchanged another look, this time with mischievous glints in their eyes. The two squatted on either side of Remus, following the line of his gaze.

"What's he looking at?" James asked Sirius. Remus suddenly blushed furiously again and focused down on his work, his eyes darting back and forth across the page far too quickly for him to actually be reading.

"A girl, obviously," Sirius replied, trying to figure out exactly where Remus had been looking.

"Well, yeah, but which one? There's a whole group of girls over there." James frowned thoughtfully over at the group of girls, most of them in either fifth, sixth, or seventh year, some doing work, and others just talking. One of them was doing both: she had a book and a piece of parchment in her lap, but at the moment, her head was up, and she was laughing at something one of her friends had said.

"So, what about it, Moony?" Sirius asked, nudging Remus suggestively. "Who are you looking at?"

"Looking at? Who? Uh, nobody. I'm not looking at anybody." The two friends exchanged looks again. He was definitely in love. Remus didn't stutter.

"Of _course_ you aren't," James said, patting the boy's shoulder reassuringly. "But who _were_ you looking at?"

Remus shot a cool look at James, loaded his quill with ink, and promptly started writing. However, he still blushed slightly. "I'm _working_, James. Mind your own business."

"Oho! Mind my own business, eh?" James' face lit up devilishly. "That's a dead giveaway that you're in love!"

"Don't be ridiculous," Remus retorted briskly, though the blush became brighter almost instantly.

Peter, who obviously thought the lure of conversation much more appealing than trying to charm a rock, had come over and listened in. Trying to conceal his laughter, he said, "He's looking at Helen Shiring. The girl with the blonde, curly hair with the book in her lap."

Sirius and James looked up at Peter. "How do you know?" Sirius asked inquiringly.

"I was going to the library with him the other day, and when she came around the corner ahead of us, Moony ducked through a doorway. He wouldn't come out until she'd passed," Peter explained.

Remus, through this whole exchange, had bent over his homework so far that he looked to be trying to dive into his book. The back of his neck was bright red, and his friends were sure that there wasn't enough light to actually read anything, much less room to write.

"So," Sirius drawled, stretching leisurely out on the grass and looking over at the girl, who appeared to be working again, "who is this Shiring? I've seen her around, I know. What's her House?"

"She's in Ravenclaw. Sixth year."

"Ravenclaw, huh?" James reached over Remus and pulled his schedule off the pile of papers, consulting it thoughtfully. "We have Potions next block." He could've sworn Remus shrank even more into his book, though it didn't seem possible for him to fold himself any further.

"Excellent!" Sirius grinned over at Remus. "A chance to show off for your love!"

"She's not my love," came Remus' muffled protest.

The other three ignored him. "I wonder what we'll be doing for Slughorn today. Maybe another contest. We could sabotage Snivelly and let Moony win," James suggested.

"Oh, but what if she isn't taking Potions this year?" Peter asked, looking suddenly rather downcast.

"Hm, yes, that could pose a problem." James nudged Remus. "What classes is she taking?"

"Why are you asking me?" Remus practically groaned.

"Because you're the one who's in love with her," Sirius explained, "and you're a workaholic who always does his homework. I bet you know every class she's taking this year, what her career plans are, and what her wand is made of."

Before Remus could continue to attempt to defend himself, the bell rang out across the Hogwarts grounds. "Oh look, time for class," Sirius said gleefully, jumping up and tucking his wand into his robes. "Guess we'll find out, then, huh?" he said to Remus who was quickly shoveling all of his things into his bag, trying to hide his by now brilliant blush, and not looking at his friends. James and Sirius snickered as they retrieved their own bags, and the four of them headed up to the school for Potions.


	2. Stage 2: Teasing

Disclaimer: Once again I'll say it: to my great disappointment, I don't own Padfoot, Prongs, or Moony. However, to my great _pleasure_ I don't own Wormtail. Lil Miss Shiring is definitely mine, though.

**Stage 2: Teasing**

The four friends trekked across the grounds toward the Hogwarts castle on their way to Potions. As they did so, they merged with the same group of girls that Remus had been looking at—including Helen Shiring. James started running his fingers back through his hair, giving it a windswept look as if he had just dismounted from his broom, causing some of the girls to giggle. Sirius, not to be outdone, pulled out his wand and started doing tricks with it, flipping it around a few times, then made flowers come out of it without saying a word and presented them to the prettiest girl of the lot. Remus, meanwhile, attempted to disappear, his head angled down so his shaggy hair concealed the vivid blush on his cheeks. Peter, of course, was in the background, being the least noticed of the four.

Remus did sneak glimpses up at Shiring and noticed, with no small amount of gratification, that she was not one of those blushing and giggling at the antics of the two handsomer Marauders. He normally didn't really mind Sirius and James showing off, but this time it really bugged him. Couldn't they give it a rest? If they were so convinced that he was in love with Shiring, why did they have to start showing off when she was right there? He didn't say any of this, of course. He never voiced these things. Soon enough, they were ascending the steps to the great doors of Hogwarts castle, heading for a class where he knew the situation would only worsen.

James and Sirius weren't really the types to notice those in a class that they didn't know or if they weren't interesting. Shiring was always bent over her work, and while she was definitely pretty—the blush on Remus' face increased—she also had glasses and freckles, and while this appealed to Remus, she wasn't the type for the other two to be interested in. Which was best, of course. If those two were interested in her (or if she was interested in them), then Remus would have had even less of a chance. Shiring had always been in their Potions class; James and Sirius had just never noticed. Lily Evans and Severus Snape were also in their Potions class, so that could explain it. Remus wasn't at all sure what his friends would do with the knowledge that he had a crush on Shiring, but he knew he didn't want to find out. With a sigh, he realized that things had only just begun.

They queued up by the door to the dungeon, Remus attempting to hide behind James and Sirius, who were only too happy to keep the attention on them. Behind them, came Snape, his nose in a book as usual, and Evans. Most of Shiring's group of friends had broken off, so she now stood leaning against the wall, looking off down the corridor ponderously. Remus tried to watch her and be discreet about it, but ended up blushing every time someone so much as glanced at him, so he pulled a book out of his bag and stuck his nose in it to avoid looking stupid.

There were several other people there, of course, but none of them were really particularly important. There were a few more Ravenclaws, some from Shiring's group but apparently not really close to her in particular, some Hufflepuffs, a few more Slytherins who did not come with Snape, and one other Gryffindor. Peter had broken off from their group, as he wasn't anywhere near good enough at Potions to be continuing at the N.E.W.T. level. He had an off-period and had gone to the library to work on some homework, though it was doubtful that he would get much done without one of the other Marauders there to help him.

Slughorn soon arrived, putting a halt to the showing off of James and Sirius, and the class filed into the dungeon, the trio going in last. James and Sirius paused on the threshold to survey where everyone was sitting and chose a table at an opportune location: Evans was on one side, Snape was in front of her, and Shiring was to the other side. Gloomily, Remus joined them at the table, hoping his friends would get distracted by the lure of flirting with Evans (for James) and tormenting Snape (for Sirius).

He would have no such luck.

"All right, class," began Professor Slughorn jovially, "please get out your scales and ingredients, as well as your books. Today, you'll be brewing a quick little potion—found on page 20 of your book—though not necessarily easy! It's called the Draught of Temperation, a little something that calms serious mood swings. Very helpful once you get married, boys." Slughorn winked at the class. "All right, then. Hop to it! These potions should take no longer than forty-five minutes to complete."

There was a general rustle as everyone got out the things they would need, flipped open books, and started fires under their cauldrons. James, predictably, almost instantly leaned over and started whispering to Evans. "Hey, Evans," he said, his voice changed rather noticeably to make him sound older and more mature, "do you have any spare porcupine quills? I'm all out, and I figured that the best potion-maker in the class was bound to have the best ingredients, too..." Unconsciously, he rumpled his hair.

She didn't even spare him an irritated glance. "Borrow some from your _friends_, Potter," she said, counting out beetle eyes.

James affected a hurt look. "Why, aren't _you_ my friend, Evans?"

This time she did look up, but only to glare at him briefly before looking back down at the beetle eyes. "I didn't realize you were _that_ impossibly thick, Potter." With an irritated breath, she dumped her handful of beetle eyes back into the container. "You made me lose count. Shut up, and go away."

Sirius snickered as James slid back into his seat to pull out his own container of beetle eyes. "Looks like she could use a dose of this Draught of Temperation herself."

"Shut it, Padfoot," snapped James, starting to count out the number of eyes he would need for the potion.

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Touchy touchy," he murmured, though clearly annoyed that James would take his rejection anger out on him. In order to relieve his own frustration, Sirius took a few beetle eyes and started flicking them into Snape's cauldron, intent on ruining the boy's potion. Unfortunately for Snape—and fortunately for the peace of the class—he didn't notice what was being done, and Sirius quit just as he turned to dump the required number of beetle eyes into the cauldron. Sirius smirked, satisfied that the potion Snape was brewing would be ruined, and proceeded to count off his own beetle eyes.

For the next fifteen minutes, Remus thought it was too good to be true. It seemed that James and Sirius were too preoccupied being annoyed to remember to bug him about his crush. He worked himself up into such a good mood about it that he actually started humming to himself as he cut up ginger roots and put them into the steadily brewing potion.

Unfortunately, this reminded his two friends about what had happened during break, and they promptly forgot their little argument and turned to him.

"Why haven't you talked to her, Moony?" Sirius asked, feigning innocence.

"She's working on her potion," Remus answered, attempting to keep the blush from rising again and failing miserably.

"Hey, she _does_ know your name, right?" James put in with an annoying grin on his face.

"Of course she knows my name, Prongs. I'm not as invisible as you two seem to think." Remus happily noted that a little hurt showed on the faces of his two friends, as he was far too annoyed at them to feel bad for hurting their feelings.

"We know you're not invisible." Sirius's voice regained its silky quality, like a dog's fur rubbed the right way. "We just wanted to make sure you've actually spoken to her, that's all." Remus didn't reply.

"She's right next to you, mate." James leaned around Sirius and nudged him. "Go on, say something."

"She's _working_," Remus insisted.

"How do you know she doesn't like talking while she's working? She seemed pretty fine with it out on the grounds."

"But those were her friends."

"Oh, does she hate you?" Sirius asked, glancing over at Shiring, who seemed rather intent on stirring her cauldron.

"She doesn't _hate _me."

"Then talk to her," James asserted.

"Why aren't you talking to Evans, Prongs?" Remus asked abruptly.

James paused. "So she _does_ hate you."

"She doesn't hate me!"

"If you're comparing talking to her to me talking to Evans, then she has to hate you."

Remus paused. He had a point. Slughorn walked by, and the three boys applied themselves to their cauldrons, falling silent for the moment. Remus hoped that would shut the other two boys up, but as soon as the professor was out of earshot again, they resumed talking.

"So, what did you do to her?" Sirius asked, pretending to be diligent upon stirring his cauldron.

"I didn't do _anything_," Remus insisted through gritted teeth.

"Then why does she hate you?"

"I already told you, _Paddy_, she doesn't hate me."

James snickered, and Sirius glared at each boy in turn. "I told you not to call me that," Sirius growled.

"Then quit it!"

"Don't make me mutilate _your_ nickname, Moony, because I will."

"Oh, I'm so scared."

"Shut it, _Moo-Moo_."

Remus snorted. "Oh, how intelligent. I'm definitely going to turn into a cow, now, just because you called me Moo-Moo."

Sirius's face colored angrily, but James interjected before something bad could come of it. "You still haven't told us why you won't talk to her. Or why she isn't talking to you."

"She's not talking to me because she's working, and I'm not talking to her for the same reason."

"You can keep saying that, it doesn't make it true," retorted Sirius, plainly recovered from the wound to his pride.

"You know, Padfoot, just because girls swoon when _you_ talk doesn't mean that happens for everyone."

"Aw, look, the big bad wolf's afraid of rejection."

"Oh, ha ha," said Remus, making a face when adding the ground-up porcupine quill caused the potion to start smelling remarkably like a Dung Bomb.

"Is it supposed to do that?" James wrinkled his nose at his own cauldron. Evans, next to him, snorted under her breath. James glanced over at her, rumpled his hair absently, and looked into her cauldron. Not only did it not smell bad, but it wasn't the ugly green color like James and Remus had. However, it looked suspiciously like water. She shot him a superior look.

Slughorn walked by, pausing by Evans' cauldron. He leaned down and smelled it, smiling. "Excellent, Miss Evans, excellent! Not that I expected any less from you." He turned to James, who was glaring sulkily down at his cauldron. He tutted. "Mr. Potter, you've been neglecting your cauldron, haven't you?"

"What? Oh. No."

"Aha, but you have." He tapped the page in _Advanced Potion Making_. "Pay attention to your instructions, Mr. Potter. You are supposed to stir constantly after adding the ginger root. It will turn gray, _then_ you grind up the quill and it will look like Miss Evans' potion." He leaned around James and peered into Sirius' cauldron. "Better, Mr. Black." He leaned in a little further. "Perhaps spend less time _preparing_ before entering your first ingredient, hm?" Sirius rolled his eyes as Slughorn moved over to Remus. "Ah, you have the same problem as Mr. Potter. Be careful, boys." The trio stayed silent as Slughorn moved on to Shiring. "Very good, Miss Shiring, though a little off. My guess would be not enough powdered porcupine quill."

Sirius looked over at Snape and snickered. Snape was looking slightly agitated as he stirred his cauldron and scribbled in his book at the same time. Sirius elbowed his two friends, but only James joined him in watching Snape as Slughorn drew nearer to him.

"Ah, Mr. Snape. Hm. Oh dear, what happened here?"

"Not sure, Professor." Snape's eyes flickered briefly to the pair watching him.

"That's not like you, Mr. Snape." Slughorn frowned. "Come, come, everyone makes mistakes. Don't fret about it." He examined the potion more closely. Though the contents weren't visible from the Marauders' table, it seemed to be emitting thin yellow smoke. "Well, I'm not sure... I would say that it was an early problem, and you attempted to fix it. This is a very delicate potion, however. You would've done better to start over." As Slughorn moved on, Snape shot a venomous glare to Sirius and James, who were laughing openly.

"All right, class," Slughorn said from the front of the room, "you should all now leave your potions to simmer for a few minutes, then take them off the fire to set." Remus mentally groaned. Since they didn't have anything else to do James and Sirius would start in again.

However, instead, James leaned over to Evans again. "Hey, Evans, I have an off-period next block. Do you think you could tutor me in Potions, since you're so talented?"

Without looking up, she said, "If you actually had any interest in learning Potions, I might consider it."

"Of course I'm interested."

Evans went on as if he hadn't spoken. "But the fact is that the only reason you want to 'study' is so you can tell your friends that I finally dated you."

"You judge too quickly, Evans."

"Which is something I have no intention of doing. Besides, if I ever _did_ date you, I would probably be hexed beyond recognition by your fan club."

"Fan club? What do you—"

"So why don't you settle for one of them? I'm sure they would be _more_ than willing to sigh over your _superb _Quidditch skills and your natural magical talent. I'm not."

"If you would just—"

"And there's no wind in here, Potter." She shot his hair—which he had just rumpled again—a disdainful look. "Shouldn't your hair have flattened by now?"

James sat back in his seat, glowering.

"You could try leaving her be, mate," Sirius suggested. "You know, not proving her right with every word you say." James glared at him, and he shrugged. "Just saying."

"And you guys wonder why I don't want to talk to Shiring," Remus muttered.

"I thought you said she didn't hate you," mocked James.

"She doesn't. But Evans didn't hate you until after you opened your fat mouth." That shut James up.

James spent the rest of the period brooding, which got Sirius in a bad mood, so they both stayed silent until the bell rang. Remus was only too happy to let them lapse into silence, since if they started talking again, he was sure more teasing would be what came out of their mouths. They turned in vials of their potions, cleaned up, and packed their bags.

The trio started walking down the corridor, heading out of the dungeons. Remus had Muggle Studies next, but the other two had never taken it, so they had an off-period. However, once they were a little bit away from the Potions dungeon, someone called them to a halt. The three turned to see a livid Snape standing there with his wand clenched in a white-knuckled grip. James and Sirius instantly went on guard. James put his hand in his pocket, though he didn't actually pull the wand out, in case someone came along to break them up, so Snape would get all the blame. Sirius, though, had gone casually still, his hand slowly inching toward his pocket, like a dog stalking through grass toward prey.

"All right, Snivellus?" Sirius asked casually, scorn painting his tone and face as he looked at the Slytherin boy.

"You. You ruined my potion," snarled Snape, lifting his wand some.

"Yeah, what of it? I noticed that you didn't go running to Slughorn about it."

"I can deal with my own problems."

James snorted. "Since when?" Remus sighed and turned, leaving his friends to do as they pleased. He touched the prefect badge on his chest and sighed again. It was times like these he wished he'd never been given the responsibility of being a prefect. That didn't mean he was going to stay and be party to it, though. Besides, his friends might have as much time as they wanted, but he had to get to his Muggle Studies classroom for next block.

Instead of replying, Snape lifted his wand and started an incantation. However, Sirius was quicker off the mark, pulling his wand out and snarling "_Expelliarmus_" almost simultaneously. "You know," he said casually, advancing on the wandless Snape who backed away warily, "it's rude to attack without warning." Snape looked around to try and find his wand while still keeping an eye on his attackers. "You would've done better to complain to a teacher, Snivelly."

"I don't need a teacher's help," Snape ground out, having noticed that his wand was lying by James' foot. James, seeing where Snape's eyes were, crouched down and picked the wand up, tossing it casually up and down.

"Ah, but the situation indicates otherwise." Sirius smirked cruelly. "Shall I teach you a lesson for your underhanded dueling style?"

"Look who's talking. You're attacking an unarmed opponent."

"And you deserved being disarmed for not giving warning of your attack. So, we're even." Snape's eyes were darting around, unable to settle anywhere, but not fully allowing himself to stop looking at Sirius and James. His manner was that of rabbit cornered by wolves. With no means to defend himself, he was going to settle for getting out of the mess he was in, reporting the theft of his wand, and fighting another day.

Just as Sirius lifted his wand, however, Evans came around the corner. "Oh, not this _again_," she burst out, putting her hands on her hips and glaring at Sirius and James.

"He attacked _us_, Evans!"

"I couldn't care less about Snivellus," she retorted. "Though I couldn't fail to notice that you're attacking a wandless opponent. Isn't that a bit low, even for you Black?" Sirius' face colored, and he lowered his wand sullenly. "Don't you two have anything better to do than show off? Honestly?" She shot a venomous look at Snape and walked past him. However, when she made to walk past James, he stepped in front of her. "Move, Potter," she said coldly.

"I still want that tutoring session," he answered smoothly.

"Why don't you ask Snivellus?" she said with a sweet smile to match her voice. She smirked at his cloudy expression and dodged around him. "Oh, go play with your Snitch or something, Potter," she called over her shoulder.

James glowered at Snape, who had backed a little more down the corridor, waiting to see what they would do. James lifted his wand, there was a flash of light, and Snape was hanging upside-down with his robes tangled around his armpits. "Come on," he muttered to Sirius, dropping Snape's wand. "Let's leave him to be found by someone."

Sirius shrugged and put his wand away, turning to follow James. "Have fun, Snivelly," he called brightly over his shoulder as they left.

Out on the grounds once more, James dropped his bag on the ground and stretched out on the grass, pulling out his own personal Snitch. He'd nicked it last year sometime around the O.W.L. testing, and no one had pinned it back to him, so he'd kept it. Sirius sat down next to him and picked up a nearby rock, tossing it up and down while James played with his Snitch, letting it go then catching it before it could escape. Sirius finally chunked the rock out across the grounds and laid back, looking up at the clear, blue sky.

"So, how are things with the noble and most ancient house of Black?" James asked casually, taking on a deep, mocking tone when reciting Mrs. Black's favorite nickname for her surname.

Sirius snorted derisively. "How the hell should I know? Like Mum ever bothers sending me letters unless I've disgraced the family name."

"You mean you haven't done that yet this year?" Sirius lifted an eyebrow, and James dropped his sarcastic tone. "You haven't told me anything about what happened this summer."

"Because _nothing_ happened this summer. Mum pestered me about being in Gryffindor; Regulus accused me no less than a thousand times of being a Muggle-lover; and Kreacher kept stealing my things and giving them to Mum as 'proof' that I'm a 'traitor.'" He paused. "So, yeah. The usual." They lapsed into silence for a few minutes. "What about your summer? How are good ol' Mum and Dad?"

James laughed. "Please don't call them that when they can hear you. You know they disapprove of your attitude toward your family."

"Yeah, well, let them try living with Mum for a while," Sirius retorted darkly. "See if they like it."

"Family is really important to Mum and Dad. They pretty much think you should love your family no matter what. Even if you don't like them much."

"I don't like them _or_ love them. Mum's always threatening to kick me out of the house. Wish she'd get around to it one of these days."

"You might regret that someday." Sirius barked a laugh. "No, I'm serious. It probably isn't a great idea to alienate yourself from your family. The Blacks are an influential family. That could screw over your future."

"And if I don't care?"

James shrugged. "I'm just saying be a little more careful. Or at least think through your recklessness."

"Your parents are rubbing off on you." James chuckled. "So, are you going to answer my question or not?"

James shrugged again. "Nothing really interesting happened. Managed to run into Evans in Diagon Alley, though."

Sirius snorted. "What did she do to you?"

"There was no lasting damage," James protested, but Sirius remained silent until he went on. "Let's just say she didn't take kindly to my chivalry."

"Chivalry my ass," snorted Sirius, but James would say no more on the matter. They lapsed into another bout of silence. After a while, Sirius sat up and stared around, bored. Few people were out on the grounds, either because they were in a class or because they were studying. Sirius pulled up grass a blade at a time, picking at it until he didn't have enough to pick at anymore and had to pull up another one. Finally, he sighed loudly. "I'm bored."

"Well, what do you want to do?" asked James, still lying out on the grass, playing with his Snitch.

"If I knew that, I wouldn't be bored, would I?" James only chuckled. "Can you believe that ol' Moony's in love?"

"Eh, it was bound to happen someday. Maybe he'll be luckier than I am."

"You know, if you'd give up on Evans, you'd be plenty lucky."

"But she's the only girl here that's worth getting."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "_Back_ to Moony." James snorted. "He's not like you and I, Prongs. He's liable to let the best things in life just float on by if he isn't given a push."

James caught the Snitch and sat up, eyeing Sirius critically. "So, you're proposing we give him a 'push?'"

Sirius grinned wickedly. "Exactly, my dear Prongs. Exactly."

"Weren't we 'pushing' him all during Potions?"

Sirius shrugged. "More like taunting than pushing, really."

"Well, then, Padfoot my friend. What do you propose we do?"


	3. Stage 3: The HookUp

Disclaimer: Alas, Padfoot, Prongs, and Moony are not mine, they're JK Rowling's. Wormtail is, too, though the thought gives me warm feelings inside. Helen Shiring is of my own creation, though.

**Stage 3: The Hook-Up**

Remus snuck a glance at Sirius and James while taking a drink of pumpkin juice. Those two had gone off to the Ravenclaw table, and they weren't back yet. He was suspicious of their motives. If he discovered that every student at Hogwarts knew of his crush, there would be some dead bodies for the teachers to find... Though, he was surprised to note that they weren't talking to Shiring. Instead, James was on one end of the table, Sirius was on the other, and they both seemed to be flirting rather heavily with the girls over there. He rolled his eyes. Just so long as he didn't have to contend with taunts, giggles, and whispers, he didn't care what those two did.

Besides, he was still feeling uncharitable toward them because of their behavior during and after Potions. He had long thought that they should give Snape a break after proving that they were better with magic than he was, but they continued to harass him. Remus sighed, poking at his food despondently. Despite what he thought, he'd never work up the nerve to defend Snape. It wasn't that he liked the boy. He just didn't like the way his friends acted when Snape was around.

They weren't bad guys, really... They just liked joking around, sometimes a little too much. Which brought up an interesting point. James and Sirius loved pranks. Remus snuck another look over at them. Could this be another one? He couldn't see what flirting with Ravenclaw girls had to do with a prank, but with those two involved, one could never tell. They usually let him in on the joke, but every once in a while, they did things just between the two of them, and it was very hard to connect the dots until after the trap was sprung. He frowned at his fork. Sometimes, it just didn't pay off to trust James and Sirius.

Remus was brought back to his immediate surroundings by Peter. "Have you started the Transfiguration essay we're supposed to do for McGonagall? I'm mostly finished, but I still have four more inches to go, and she can always tell if you're just trying to fill up space."

Remus shrugged. "Yeah, I finished it during an off-period yesterday."

"Oh, can I read it?" Peter asked.

"Certainly not. That would be cheating."

"Please, Moony? It's just four inches..."

"Which you can easily write yourself. We don't even have Transfiguration until tomorrow. You can finish it tonight in the common room." Remus looked up to see James and Sirius returning, both looking rather pleased with themselves. "All right, out with it," he said as the two sat down across the table from him and Peter.

"Out with what?" asked James, looking extremely innocent as he shoveled some mashed potatoes onto his plate.

"You know perfectly well what I'm talking about, now spill."

"I'm sure we don't know _what_ you're going on about, Moony," Sirius drawled, also focusing on food.

"Oh? Then why were you over at the Ravenclaw table?"

"So we're not allowed to have friends in other Houses, is that it?" James glanced up briefly through raised eyebrows.

Remus rolled his eyes. "I'm _so_ sure that you two were talking to friends. That's why half the girls at the Ravenclaw table are now blushing."

"Are they?" Sirius nonchalantly glanced over his shoulder. "Can't say why."

"No, _won't_ say why would be more accurate."

Sirius grinned smoothly. "You're too uptight, Moony my friend. You should relax."

"If this 'relaxing' involves flirting with Shiring, then you have another thing coming."

"Shiring who?" James asked, still cloaked in feigned innocence.

"Okay, now I _know_ you two are up to something."

"Padfoot, have you finished your Transfiguration essay?" Peter asked suddenly.

"Yeah, I finished it a few days ago. Why?"

"Can I read it?"

Sirius shrugged. "Sure. I left it in our dorm, though."

Remus rolled his eyes and got up from the table, picking up his bag. "We have Charms next, you guys coming?"

"But we haven't eaten yet!" James looked longingly at his still full plate.

"It's your own fault you spent your lunch hour frivolously. Now come on."

"Just because _you_ don't like flirting, Moony, doesn't mean it's a frivolous way to spend time," grumped James as the group headed out of the Great Hall.

"And just because you like flirting doesn't mean it's not a waste of time," retorted Remus mildly.

"Black!" The four stopped and turned to see a pretty girl from the Ravenclaw table hurrying across the entrance hall toward them. Sirius' posture changed subtilely, and he fairly oozed arrogance. The Ravenclaw girl stopped in front of Sirius, blushing.

Just as she started to speak, though, Sirius rode over her. "Rooke, I said later."

"But you didn't say _when_," she insisted. Remus lifted an eyebrow and looked to James for an explanation, but James pretended not to notice.

"Later." She seemed about to protest some more, but Sirius stepped closer to her and the difference in their heights became rather apparent. He smiled smoothly, put his mouth right by her ear and whispered something intimately. Her blush deepened, and she smiled at him as he pulled back.

"Later then," she said, backing away a little. Her smile widened, and she turned, hurrying back toward the doors to the Great Hall, where several of her friends were, and the group started whispering furiously, accompanied by many glances at the Marauders.

The four started toward the Charms room again. Once they were a little away from the entrance hall, Remus asked, "O-kay, so what was _that_ all about?"

Sirius shook his head. "Moony, Moony. I'm surprised at you. You get all huffy about us interfering in your love life, and then you presume to pester me about mine."

"I'm not _pestering_," Remus protested.

In front of them, a group of girls turned the corner and started walking toward them—including Shiring. Remus fought a valiant battle to avoid blushing and managed to win. However, one of her friends whispered something in her ear. She giggled and waved at Remus. "All right, Lupin?" she said shyly.

His charge faltered and petered out. The blush won. "H-Hullo, Shiring," he stuttered as she walked by. He turned to walk backward and saw her look over her shoulder and smile at him. He smiled back and waved. He kept walking like that long after she was out of sight until he was snatched by the sleeve and hauled around a corner.

"Hey! What was that for?" he asked angrily, turning around and straightening his robes.

"You were about to walk into a wall, mate," James explained, patting him on the shoulder.

Remus' blush deepened. "Oh. Uh, thanks."

Throughout Charms, neither Sirius nor James brought up the subject of Shiring. Remus was not about to complain, but he was a little suspicious. In Potions earlier, they wouldn't drop the subject if he'd paid them to, and now they were scrupulously avoiding mentioning it. The rest of the day of classes passed like that, and soon enough they were heading back toward the Gryffindor common room.

Sirius paused as they passed a corridor that led to the entrance hall. "You all go ahead," he said. "I have some business to take care of." Peter looked at him questioningly. "The essay's in my trunk."

"What business?" Remus asked.

"Contrary to popular belief, I do have a life that doesn't involve you guys," Sirius replied flatly, causing Remus' face to heat. "I'll see you later," he called, heading off toward the entrance hall.

Remus watched Sirius' retreating back. "What's up with him?"

James shrugged. "Nothing. He just gets into moods. Come on. We should get back to the tower before Filch shows up and tries to give us detention for loitering."

* * *

"Boo."

Remus started, disturbing the parchment in his lap as his head jerked up to see Sirius grinning at him. Remus took in his appearance with a blink. Sirius seemed ... rumpled, would be the best word. His robes were loosened considerably about his neck and appeared wrinkled in places, his hair was messed up, and there was a suspicious red mark on his neck.

"My, my. Jumpy tonight, are we?"

Remus ignored the question. "Where have you been? Curfew was up three hours ago."

"You're just _full_ of nosy questions today, aren't you?" Sirius casually slouched into a chair between Remus and James. "I had business to take care of. I thought I already told you that."

Remus grunted suspiciously and returned to his homework. He blinked and rifled through a few of the pieces of parchment. "Hey, where'd my star chart go?" Sirius cleared his throat and pointed at Remus' feet. After a bit of rearranging, he managed to look over the edge of the chair and found the star chart and a few other things were on the ground. He looked up again at Sirius, who was the only one not covered in homework and lifted an eyebrow. "Would it kill you to give me a hand?"

"Probably. Blood loss and all that." He smirked at Remus' glare and sat up, reaching down to pick up the parchment on the floor. "I'm just messing with you, mate. I swear, you really need to spend some time relaxing."

"Thanks," Remus said, ignoring the crack as he took his parchment and started looking over his star chart to see what he was missing. After a moment, without looking up, he asked casually, "So, is everything going according to plan?"

"Perfectly," Sirius replied with relish, lacing his fingers together behind his head and slouching further in the chair. "I just—." He stopped and looked warily over at Remus. "Plan? What do you mean?"

Remus hid his smirk. "Nothing. Nothing at all."

* * *

"PEEVES!" roared a soaked Sirius. The poltergeist cackled and blew a raspberry at the Marauders as they glared at him from in front of the Fat Lady. "Oh, you're going to _pay_ for that one, Peeves!" Sirius, with a malevolent glint in his eyes and a sadistic grin on his face, brandished his wand. Remus noted with amusement that Sirius Black could be soaked, raging, and half-asleep, and he was _still_ handsome.

Peeves laughed and blew another raspberry. "Oh, look! Wacky Blacky's looking _Sirius_ today!" He cackled.

"You better believe I'm serious, Peeves. You're going _down_."

A few minutes later, they were walking down the corridor toward the Great Hall for breakfast, leaving behind a rather bad-tempered closet. Sirius (now dry) sighed happily. "Ah, I love Saturday." He grinned at James. "Don't you?"

"Best day of the week," James answered, looking particularly pleased.

Remus looked between the two. It had been several days since they discovered his crush, and since then they had both acted like cats swimming in cream. Even Peter was starting to take on a knowing expression around Remus. Sirius and James had been disappearing at odd times, usually reappearing in various degrees of dishevelment. He wasn't at all sure what they were up to, but it worried him. They _were_ up to something (their smug faces were way too obvious), and Remus was positive it had something to do with him.

Also in those intervening days, Shiring had spoken to him several times. He blushed slightly. The thought had occurred to him that Sirius and James were behind it, but he found he didn't care much.

They reached the entrance hall, and Remus immediately spotted Shiring standing by herself near the great doors that led out to the grounds. Remus stopped. Behind his head, Sirius and James smirked at each other. "Whelp," Sirius said loudly, stretching his arms over his head, "I'm off for breakfast. You coming, Prongs? Wormtail?" The other two agreed instantly and headed for the Great Hall. As he passed, Sirius whispered, "Try not to stand here staring all morning, hm?" Remus blushed.

Remus stood watching her for a moment, working up his nerve. He straightened his posture, lifted his chin, and crossed the entrance hall. "All right, Shiring?"

She turned and smiled at him. "Hey, Lupin." She giggled. "I was waiting for you. Do you want to go walk with me?"

Remus, ignoring the heat in his face, smiled back. "I'd love to." Throwing caution to the wind, he turned and offered his arm to her hopefully. Giggling, she took it, and they headed out to the grounds.

By the doors to the Great Hall, Sirius and James stood watching with their heads together. "You know," Sirius drawled, smirking, "I almost want to follow them. But then, Remus is such a gentleman. It probably wouldn't be any fun."

"Yeah, and I'm hungry." James paused. "Besides, we can always get the details from her friends." They shared a look. "You know she'll tell them."

Sirius' smirk widened. "So true. Very well. Let's get some breakfast then."

* * *

"She kissed you?" Peter asked incredulously.

"Hey, way to go Moony." Sirius nudged him, a suggestive grin on his face. "I never pegged you for moving so fast."

"Well, it's not like I planned it or something. _She_ kissed _me_."

"Hey, give yourself some credit, mate." Sirius smirked. "She had to like you before she'd kiss you."

James snickered. "Aw, twue wuv."

Remus blushed. _I seem to be doing this a lot lately..._ "It's not true love. It was a kiss on the cheek. By the lake. After a conversation about romantic places... Like ... a lake ... in fine weather..."

"Fine weather like we're having now?" Peter asked.

"Besides, I didn't say 'true love.' I said 'twue wuv.' There's a difference."

Remus cocked his head. "Like what?"

"Well, true love is like me and Evans." The other three snickered. James puffed his chest out, readying himself for the punchline. "While twue wuv is like Padfoot and his reflection."

Sirius, without a change of expression, casually punched James in the arm. "How about not?"

James fell over, holding his arm and writhing on the grass. "Oh, the pain! The agony! Padfoot, you've wounded me for life! I'll never be able to throw a Quaffle again!"

"Hey, is that Evans?" Peter asked, shielding his eyes and looking out across the grounds.

James was instantly on his feet again, straightening his robes and rumpling his hair. "Where?"

The other three burst out laughing. "My mistake, Prongs," Peter gasped between bouts of laughter. "Turns out, it was your dignity running for its life."

James' hands dropped to his sides, and he rolled his eyes. "Oh, very funny you guys."

The laughter slowly died down. "So, Moony," James said, intent on getting the subject back on Remus and Shiring, "what's going to happen now? Did she just kiss and run?"

Remus sobered, looking across the grounds at the spot where he and Shiring had sat talking that morning. "Well, no. We sat there talking for a while about classes. Then, she brought up how pretty the lake was, and how she thought lakes were very romantic in fine weather. I agreed..." His cheeks colored. "Then, she kissed me on the cheek, said she thought we should talk again, and went back into the castle."

"That sounds like a kiss and run to me," murmured Sirius, though not loud enough for Remus to hear. James elbowed him.

"It sounds like she likes you," Peter said.

Remus returned his gaze to his friends, smiling shyly. "Yeah. Yeah, it does."

"Well, if you want _my_ advice," began Sirius, putting an arm around Remus' shoulders, but Remus brushed him off.

"No, I _don't_ want your advice. You haven't had a successful relationship yet, and don't _you_ start either," he added to James who had just opened his mouth.

"I have been in _plenty_ of successful relationships," Sirius protested.

"Two things. First off, how do you figure that if you're single? And secondly, how can you have _plenty_ of _successful_ relationships? They'd all have to fail to make room for the next one!"

Sirius opened his mouth to reply, found himself at a loss of flippant comebacks, and closed it again.

"Congratulations, Moony," Peter slapped him on the back, "you're the first person ever to render Padfoot speechless."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, blah blah. Congratulations, you've outwitted me. For once."

"And the moment of peace has passed," sighed James. "Should've known it was too good to last."

Sirius crouched slightly, growling playfully, "Is that so? Think you can take me, Potter?"

James motioned for him to come on. "Bring it, Black. Let's see what you've got."

"Dog vs. Stag, Epic Battle of the Wizards," Peter smirked.

"Really? I would've pegged it as 'Ego vs. Pride, Pointless Battle of the Faults'." Remus and Peter shared a look and started laughing.

Sirius and James stood watching each other for a moment, then James asked, "Ready?"

"Whenever you are." They turned on the other two; James tackling Peter while Sirius tackled Remus.

"Lupin?"

They all froze and looked up to see Shiring standing there watching, somewhat bewildered. It must have been quite the amusing sight. Sirius had Peter in a headlock, both on the ground in a rather awkward position, while James had pinned Remus to the ground and was sitting on his chest. They had all frozen and were looking up at the Ravenclaw. For a moment, no one moved. Then Remus unceremoniously shoved James off him and stood up, brushing off his robes. "Good day, Shiring."

"Um..." She looked over at the other three boys (Sirius and Peter hadn't moved, but James was now lying on his back on the grass), then back at Remus. "What's going on?"

"Nothing," Remus said hastily.

Shiring looked doubtful. "Right."

"Yeah."

There was a moment of awkward silence.

"So," Shiring began, trailing off uncomfortably.

"Yeah."

"Um... I came to see if you wanted to go to the library with me to work on Flitwick's essay."

"Oh, yeah." Remus brightened. "Sounds great." Silence settled once more. "Oh, uh, is it okay if we swing by the Gryffindor tower? I left my bag there this morning."

"Right. Yeah, it's fine. I left my bag in the Ravenclaw tower, anyway."

"Right. Sure." He paused. "So, shall we go?"

"Yeah, sounds good." The pair walked off toward the castle without saying goodbye to the other Marauders, ignoring the sudden outbreak of laughter behind them.

* * *

Peter burst into the Gryffindor common room. "Sirius! James!" He leaned against the back of James' chair. "You've got to see this," he panted.

It had been a week since Sirius and James had succeeded in getting Shiring and Remus to socialize. Since then, they had left the rest up to Remus and Shiring, though they were discreetly snooping on their progress. After all, how were they supposed to help his relationship succeed if they didn't know what was happening?

"What happened to you?" Sirius asked, rising from his chair.

"I ran all the way from the grounds."

Sirius and James frowned at each other as they followed Peter out of the common room.

"Wormtail, mate, you're practically falling over," James observed. "You can hitch a ride to the grounds if you want."

Peter nodded gratefully. A few minutes later, Sirius and James emerged from an empty classroom. As they walked through the castle, Peter rested as a rat, snug in James' pocket. Before they reached the entrance hall, James let Peter out in a closet so he could transform back to himself, and they headed out onto the grounds.

"This way," he motioned, leading them out over by the lake. Following Peter's lead, they snuck across the grounds and hid in a group of bushes.

By the shore of the lake sat Remus and Shiring, holding hands.

It took a few moments for James and Sirius to stop snickering. "Well," said Sirius finally, "looks like we did our job well, Prongs."

"Indeed."

A mischievous grin slid onto Sirius' face. "Watch this." Under the cover of the bushes, Sirius changed to the form of a large black dog. He frisked for a moment, chasing his tail, then leaped out of the bushes and charged over to Remus and Shiring. Barking loudly, he jumped right between him, his tail wagging furiously.

The couple broke apart, each with a very different reaction. Shiring squealed, "Aw, look, he's so cute!" Sirius licked her face, and she giggled, scratching him behind the ears.

Remus, however, rolled his eyes, looking somewhat sullen. "Yeah, cute. Sure." He got whacked in the head by the wagging tail, and in turn, smacked Sirius in the leg. "Snuffles," he cooed in a baby voice. "Snuffles..." Sirius turned around, sat down, and cocked his head. "Good boy. I thought we'd taught you not to come onto the grounds anymore, Snuffles," Remus scolded, shaking a finger in Sirius' face.

"Oh, you know him?" Shiring asked, shifting around so she could pet Sirius again.

"Yeah. He's a stray that roams around Hogsmeade. Poor guy was half-starved when we found him in third year." Sirius whined, and Remus smiled, patting him on the head. He huffed, banging his tail once on the ground. "We found someone to take him in, but the little guy followed us back to Hogwarts." Remus sighed in a long-suffering manner. "We just can't keep him away."

"Funny, I've never seen him before," Shiring muttered absently, scratching Sirius' side until his leg started twitching.

"Yeah, he hides on the grounds until he sees one of us."

"Who's 'us'?"

"Oh, sorry. Me, James, Sirius, and Peter. Where did those guys get off to?" He looked around, trying to find his other two friends so he could get rid of Sirius.

James appeared out of some bushes and whistled. "Snuffles! C'mere boy!" Sirius' ears pricked, and he barked eagerly, bounding up and running off toward James.

"Finally," murmured Remus. "I'll kill them later."

"What?"

"Oh, uh, I just said 'That's much better.' It really isn't good for Snuffles to roam around the grounds. Filch wouldn't like it if a big black dog got into the castle and started chasing his cat."

Shiring looked downcast. "Oh, I hadn't thought of that... You're right." She smiled and scooted over to sit next to him again, resting her head on his shoulder. "This is nice, isn't it?"

Remus blinked, pulled out of his happy reverie caused by having a pretty girl leaning on him (_him_, not Sirius or James for once). "Hm? Oh, yeah. Yeah, it is."

"Just you and me and a beautiful Saturday afternoon." She sighed contentedly.

_Thank God it's the new moon._


End file.
